food insecurity
n.— «There was a 15-percent increase between 1999 and 2002 in the number of U.S. households facing “food insecurity”—1.5 million families. Overall, this translates into more than 12 million families not knowing where their next meal will come from due to layoffs and low-wage jobs with no benefits. » —“Is the glass half empty or half full?” Workers World (New York City) Apr. 1, 2004. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Kelly from Butte, Montana, recalls that when a few morsels remained at the end of a meal, her grandmother would say, Make it a nice day tomorrow, meaning everyone should eat all their food. A version used by a childhood friend’s family was Make it a...
Jill from Greenville, South Carolina, wants to know why pickle automatically means “pickled cucumber,” as opposed to other pickled vegetables, such as onions and carrots. The answer has to do with prototypicality, the cultural agreement that one...